Hawaiian Traditions | Page 95 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

March 12, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaluakoʻi

It was “a desolate land, a land of famine.” (Kamakau)

Aia ke ana ko‘i i Kaluako‘i
At Kaluako‘i is an adze quarry (Gon)

Kaluakoʻi (the adze pit) is the largest ahupuaʻa on Molokai, containing an area of 46,500 acres. It’s on the western portion of island.

It’s in the rain shadow of east Molokai making the area very arid (thus the first line.) The upland of Kaluakoʻi was well known for the fine grained basalts used for adze manufacture (thus the latter.)

“Kaluakoʻi was probably permanently occupied late in prehistory, and that its access to fishing grounds and adze quarries meant that it was integrated into island-wide society …”

“Presence of extensive occupations in the uplands and of major specialized features such as heiau (temples) and holua (sledding courses) in the lowlands holua provide evidence that the Kaluakoʻi area had permanent, perhaps socially stratified, occupants.”

“Traditional wisdom among archaeologist has also concluded that this region would have been settled only after sweet potato was available, and after population densities had risen in the wetter areas, probably no earlier than about ad 1500.” Cultivation of ʻuala (sweet potato) and offshore and deep sea fishing provided the primary sustenance. (Dye)

Kaluakoʻi was returned and retained by the Government at the Māhele. (Ulukau) Then, “Minister Gibson, read memorando from the records regarding the sale of certain lands in 1874-5, and that the sales had been made to meet current expenses of Government.”

“On March 5, 1874, there was a deficiency, and it was proposed to borrow $47,000. On May 15, 1874, it was proposed to meet the deficiency by selling the land of Kaluakoʻi, on Molokai. A resolution, however, was adopted, which read: ‘Resolved, Not to sell the land of Kaluakoʻi to Mr. Bishop at present.’”

“On May 26, 1874, the Cabinet approved of selling Kaluakoʻi to Mr. Bishop for $5,000, the King withholding his decision till next day.” The 46,500 acres was sold to Bishop, on January 26, 1875, by Royal patent 3,146. (Report of Hawaiian Legislative Assembly, 1886)

Bishop ranched the land; then in 1893, all the land, leaseholds and livestock were transferred by Charles Bishop to the Trustees of the Bernice P Bishop Estate and in 1897 Molokai Ranch was formed and bought Kaluakoʻi from the Estate.

Maunaloa is a former pineapple plantation town built in 1923 by Libby, McNeill and Libby (later a Dole corporation). After pineapple operations ended in 1976, the former pineapple fields surrounding the town became grazing land for Molokai ranch. (Dye)

In 1977, Molokai tourism was enhanced with the opening of the 198-room Kaluakoʻi Resort and condo complex on the West End. However, by the early 1980s it was virtually abandoned. (Brady)

Many hoped that the opening of the Beach Village in 1996 and the Lodge in 1999 would resuscitate Kaluakoʻi, attracting tourists and adding jobs. Later announcements of renovations provided further hope. (Brady)

The hotel and the golf course were permanently closed in January of 2001; the 149 privately owned condominium units continued to operate, some of them under the “The Villas” rental group and some rented by the individual owners.

In 2006, the company announced that it would renovate the hotel as part of a master development plan that included the sale of 200 homesites (at $600,000 each) along Laʻau Point on the southwestern tip.

Local reaction was negative, forceful, and immediate. The most visible display of residents’ opposition to the plan was the hand-painted signs reading ‘Save Laʻau’ that were posted across the Island. (Brady)

With that project failure, in May 2008, the Ranch reduced its operations on the island. Today, Molokaʻi Ranch encompasses about 53,000-acres which is roughly one-third of the island.

In 2012, under new management, Molokai Ranch announced plans to develop a new strategy focusing on four strategies: animal husbandry, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy and green improvements to existing infrastructure.

In a statement related to this, a Ranch representative noted, “Our focus is currently on ensuring the success of our newly re-launched ranching operations and our efforts to re-open existing facilities, such as the Maunaloa Lodge, in an effort to create opportunities for the island.”

Their website notes, “Molokai Ranch is working toward responsible tourism, creating an authentic cultural experience of Molokai and building the foundation for a thriving local economy.”

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January 30, 2016 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

ʻAilāʻau

The longest recorded eruption at Kilauea, arguably, was the ʻAilāʻau eruption and lava flow in the 15th century, which may be memorialized in the Pele-Hiʻiaka chant. It was the largest in Hawaiʻi in more than 1,000-years.

The flow was named after ʻAilāʻau was known and feared by all the people. ʻAi means the “one who eats or devours.” Lāʻau means “tree” or a “forest.”

ʻAilāʻau was, therefore, the forest eating (destroying) fire-god. Time and again he laid the districts of South Hawaii desolate by the lava he poured out from his fire-pits. (He was the fire god before Pele arrived at Hawaiʻi Island.)

He was the god of the insatiable appetite; the continual eater of trees, whose path through forests was covered with black smoke fragrant with burning wood, and sometimes burdened with the smell of human flesh charred into cinders in the lava flow.

ʻAilāʻau seemed to be destructive and was so named by the people, but his fires were a part of the forces of creation. He built up the islands for future life. The flowing lava made land. Over time, the lava disintegrates and makes earth deposits and soil. When the rain falls, fruitful fields form and people settled there.

ʻAilāʻau still poured out his fire. It spread over the fertile fields, and the people feared him as the destroyer giving no thought to the final good.

He lived, the legends say, for a long time in a very ancient part of Kilauea, on the large island of Hawaii, now separated by a narrow ledge from the great crater and called Kilauea Iki (Little Kilauea).

The ʻAilāʻau eruption took place from a vent area just east of Kilauea Iki. The eruption built a broad shield. The eastern part of Kilauea Iki Crater slices through part of the shield, and red cinder and lava flows near the center of the shield can be seen on the northeastern wall of the crater.

The eruption probably lasted about 60 years, ending around 1470 (based on evaluation of radiocarbon data for 17 samples of lava flows produced by the ʻAilāʻau shield – from charcoal created when lava burns vegetation.) The ages obtained for the 17 samples were averaged and examined statistically to arrive at the final results.

The radiocarbon data are supported by the magnetic declination and inclination of the lava flows, frozen into the flows when they cooled. This study found that these “paleomagnetic directions” are consistent with what was expected for the 15th century.

Such a long eruption naturally produced a large volume of lava, estimated to be about 5.2 cubic kilometers (1.25 cubic miles) after accounting for the bubbles in the lava. The rate of eruption is about the same as that for other long-lasting eruptions at Kilauea.

This large volume of lava covered a huge area, about 166 square miles (over 106,000-acres) – larger than the Island of Lānaʻi. From the summit of the ʻAilāʻau shield, pāhoehoe lava flowed 25-miles northeastward, making it all the way to the coast.

Lava covered all, or most, of what are now Mauna Loa Estates, Royal Hawaiian Estates, Hawaiian Orchid Island Estates, Fern Forest Vacation Estates, Eden Rock Estates, Crescent Acres, Hawaiian Acres, Orchid Land Estates, ʻAinaloa, Hawaiian Paradise Park and Hawaiian Beaches. (USGS)

After a time, ʻAilāʻau left these pit craters and went into the great crater and was said to be living there when Pele came to the seashore far below.

When Pele came to the island Hawaiʻi, she first stopped at a place called Keahialaka in the district of Puna. From this place she began her inland journey toward the mountains. As she passed on her way there grew within her an intense desire to go at once and see ʻAilāʻau, the god to whom Kilauea belonged, and find a resting-place with him as the end of her journey.

She came up, but ʻAilāʻau was not in his house – he had made himself thoroughly lost. He had vanished because he knew that this one coming toward him was Pele. He had seen her toiling down by the sea at Keahialaka. Trembling dread and heavy fear overpowered him.

He ran away and was entirely lost. When he came to that pit she laid out the plan for her abiding home, beginning at once to dig up the foundations. She dug day and night and found that this place fulfilled all her desires. Therefore, she fastened herself tight to Hawaii for all time.

These are the words in which the legend disposes of this ancient god of volcanic fires. He disappears from Hawaiian thought and Pele from a foreign land finds a satisfactory crater in which her spirit power can always dig up everlastingly overflowing fountains of raging lava. (Westervelt)

The ʻAilāʻau flow was such a vast outpouring changed the landscape of much of Puna. It must have had an important impact on local residents, and as such it may well be described in the Pele-Hiʻiaka chant.

Hiʻiaka, late on returning to Kilauea from Kauaʻi with Lohiau, sees that Pele has broken her promise and set afire Hiʻiaka’s treasured ʻōhiʻa lehua forest in Puna. Hiʻiaka is furious, and this leads to her love-making with Lohiau, his subsequent death at the hands of Pele, and Hiʻiaka’s frantic digging to recover the body.

The ʻAilāʻau flows seem to be the most likely candidate because it covered so much of Puna. The timing seems right, too – after the Pele clan arrived from Kahiki, before the caldera formed (Hiʻiaka’s frantic digging may record this), and before the encounters with Kamapuaʻa, some of which probably deal with explosive eruptions between about 1500 and 1790. (Information here is from USGS and Westervelt.)

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January 2, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

The Dark Side

There are many good things of the Hawaiʻi of old.

In Hawaiian culture, natural and cultural resources are one and the same. Traditions describe the formation (literally the birth) of the Hawaiian Islands and the presence of life on, and around them, in the context of genealogical accounts.

All forms of the natural environment, from the skies and mountain peaks, to the watered valleys and lava plains, and to the shore line and ocean depths are believed to be embodiments of Hawaiian gods and deities. (Maly)

“Cultural Attachment” embodies the tangible and intangible values of a culture – how a people identify with, and personify the environment around them.

It is the intimate relationship (developed over generations of experiences) that people of a particular culture feel for the sites, features, phenomena and natural resources etc, that surround them – their sense of place. This attachment is deeply rooted in the beliefs, practices, cultural evolution and identity of a people. (Kent)

In ancient Hawai‘i, most of the makaʻāinana were farmers, a few were fishermen. Access to resources was tied to residency and earned as a result of taking responsibility to steward the environment and supply the needs of aliʻi. Tenants cultivated smaller crops for family consumption, to supply the needs of chiefs and provide tributes.

In this subsistence society, the family farming scale was far different from commercial-purpose agriculture. In ancient time, when families farmed for themselves, they adapted; products were produced based on need. The families were disbursed around the Islands.

A lot of good things can be learned from this; a lot. However, sometimes it seems people romanticize the way of life solely as some kind of idyllic paradise.

Hawaiians were an isolated, complex society, often glamorized as simply a self-sufficient, environmentally-friendly, sustainable paradise that folks would yearn to return to.

Often looked-the-other-way and/or ignored were some significant societal actions and attitudes that shed a different light – a dark side – that was part of the overall life of the ancient Hawaiians; activities that are not now considered acceptable behavior.

Human Sacrifice

“Paradoxically, the dead were used to give more life to the living…. Many occasions or events would have required human sacrifice. Most of them seem to be connected with the lives of the aliʻi … While most rites required only one victim at any one time, for certain occasions many people were sacrificed.” (George Kanahele)

“(A) heiau would minimally consist of any place where sacrifices and offerings were made, and indeed, the notion of sacrifice is fundamental in Hawaiian religious practice.” (Handy; Kirch)

“…when a human sacrifice was required for the heiau, women could not be killed, because they were a defiling influence; only men were sacrificed to the male Akua Ku.” (Lilikala Kameʻeleihiwa)

“On the most elementary level, ʻAikapu is that which prevents the ‘unclean’ nature of women from defiling male sanctity when they offer sacrifice to the male Akua, and which is further observed on the kapu nights of the four major male Akua.” (Lilikala Kameʻeleihiwa)

“Human sacrifice is so alien to modern values, not to mention laws, that it nearly defies any attempt to understand it.” (George Kanahele)

Incest

“… incest is acceptable, even desireable. … brother-sister … father-daughter …. Hence, incest is not only for producing divinity, but the very act of incest is proof of divinity. No wonder the Aliʻi Nui guarded incest so jealously and refused to allow the kaukau aliʻi (lower chiefs) and makaʻāinana that privilege.” (Lilikala Kame‘eleihiwa)

“A suitable partner for a chief of the highest rank was his own sister, begotten by the same father and mother as himself. Such a pairing was called a piʻo (a bow, a loop, a thing bent on itself;) and …”

“… if the union bore fruit, the child would be a chief of the highest rank, a ninau piʻo, so sacred that all who came into his presence must prostrate themselves. He was called divine, akua.” (Malo)

Polygamy

“Individuals stayed together or not by choice rather than by commitment or obligation. … Monogamy, polygyny and polyandry coexisted among ali‘i and among commoners. Often, polygamy involved siblings.” (Diamond)

Polygamy was often practiced, especially by chiefs. Kamehameha had 30 wives; from them, he had 35-children from 18 of the wives (12 did not bear any children.) (Ahlo & Walker)

Infanticide

“There can be no doubt but that infanticide was prevalent among them and that a very large percent of the children born were disposed of in various ways by their parents, soon after their birth.”

“Generally speaking, it appears that in Hawaiʻi, as throughout Polynesia, the struggle for existence and life’s necessities, was largely evaded by restricting the natural increase in population in this way.” (Bryan, 1915)

Discrimination Against Women

The Hawaiian kapu can be grouped into three categories. The first evolved from the basic precepts of the Hawaiian religion and affected all individuals, but were considered by foreign observers to be especially oppressive and burdensome to women.

One of the most fundamental of this type of prohibition forbade men and women from eating together and also prohibited women from eating pork, coconuts, bananas and, ulua and the red fish (kumu.)

If a woman was clearly detected in the act of eating any of these things, as well as a number of other articles that were tabu, which I have not enumerated, she was put to death. (Malo)

Certain places were set apart for the husband’s sole and exclusive use; such were the sanctuary in which he worshipped and the eating-house in which he took his food.

The wife might not enter these places while her husband was worshipping or while he was eating; nor might she enter the sanctuary or eating-house of another man; and if she did so she must suffer the penalty of death, if her action was discovered. (Malo)

Wars

Wars and battles were often conflicts fought between family members – brother against brother, cousin or in-laws. At the period of Captain Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms …

(1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and (4) Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

“At that time Kahekili was plotting for the downfall of Kahahana and the seizure of Oahu and Molokai, and the queen of Kauai was disposed to assist him in these enterprises. The occupation of the Hana district of Maui by the kings of Hawaii had been the cause of many stubborn conflicts between the chivalry of the two islands”. (Kalākaua)

At a battle at ʻIao, “They speak of the carnage as frightful, the din and uproar, the shouts of defiance among the fighters, the wailing of the women on the crests of the valley, as something to curdle the blood or madden the brain of the beholder.” (Fornander)

The Maui troops were completely annihilated and it is said that the corpses of the slain were so many as to choke up the waters of the stream of ʻIao, and that hence one of the names of this battle was “Kepaniwai” (the damming of the waters). (Fornander)

Then, a final battle of conquest took place on Oʻahu. Kamehameha landed his fleet and disembarked his army on Oʻahu, extending from Waiʻalae to Waikiki. … he marched up the Nuʻuanu valley, where Kalanikūpule had posted his forces. (Fornander)

“The superiority of Kamehameha’s artillery, the number of his guns, and the better practice of his soldiers, soon turned the day in his favour, and the defeat of the Oʻahu forces became an accelerated rout and a promiscuous slaughter.” (Fornander) Estimates for losses in the battle of Nuʻuanu (1795) ranged up to 10,000-Hawaiians, by Hawaiians. (Schmitt)

There are many good things of the Hawaiʻi of old.

However, when we speak of the lives and lifestyle of the ancient Hawaiians and hint at romanticizing it strictly as an idyllic paradise way of life, we should not overlook Human Sacrifice, Incest, Polygamy, Discrimination Against Women, Infanticide, War and other dark sides of this life and lifestyle.

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October 30, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Halekiʻi and Pihana Heiau

The Wailuku area was a major gathering place and royal center of the Maui high chiefs and those of rank. The area from Waiheʻe to Wailuku was the largest continuous area of wet taro cultivation in the Hawaiian Islands.

Royal Centers were where the aliʻi resided; aliʻi often moved between several residences throughout the year. The Royal Centers were selected for their abundance of resources and recreation opportunities.

To the southeast of ʻIao Stream, below Pihana Heiau, was Kauahea where warriors lived and were trained in war skills. This was a boxing site in the time of Kahekili. (Naone)

The Wailuku spring was located below Pihana Heiau and the taro grown in this area was for the use of the aliʻi (nobility class) only. Much of the evidence for this agricultural system was destroyed by the 1916 flood and by historic cultivation for sugarcane and pineapple.
When Kekaulike, father of Kahekili and Kamehameha Nui, heard that Alapaʻi (the ruling chief of Hawaiʻi) was at Kohala on his way to war against Maui, he was afraid and fled to Wailuku in his double war canoe.

Others with him went by canoe and some overland; the chiefs prepared a litter for Kekaulike and bore him upland to Halekiʻi. There, in March 1736, Kekaulike died.

Fearing the arrival of Alapaʻi, bent on war, the chiefs cut the flesh from the bones of Kekaulike in order to lighten the load in carrying the body to ʻIao for burial. (Kamakau)

The body of Kamehameha Nui (an uncle of Kamehameha I,) who ruled Maui before his brother Kahekili succeeded him, was laid here before being taken to a final resting place on Molokai. Kahekili himself lived here at times (ca. 1765.)

It was at Pihana, in about 1778 or 1780, that Keōpūolani was born (daughter to Kiwalaʻo and Keku‘iapoiwa Liliha.) After Kamehameha defeated Kekaulike’s grandson, Kalanikupule, at ʻIao in 1790, he followed Keōpūolani and her grandmother, Kalola, to Molokai – later taking her as a wife.

In 1797, she gave birth to a son, Liholiho (later known as Kamehameha II,) was born in Hilo; Kauikeaouli, her second son (later Kamehameha III,) was born in Keauhou, North Kona.

Liholiho, after he had been established as heir to Kamehameha’s kingdom, recited the prayer rededicating Pihana Heiau to the gods of his father.

Halekiʻi and Pihana Heiau are the most accessible of the remaining pre-contact Hawaiian structures of religious and historical importance in the Wailuku-Kahului area.

Located about ¼-mile inland along the west side of ‘Iao Stream, they overlook ‘Iao Stream, Kahului Bay and the Wailuku Plain.

Traditional history credits the menehune with the construction of both heiau in a single night, using rock from Paukukalo Beach.

Other accounts credit Kihapiʻilani with building Halekiʻi, and Kiʻihewa with building Pihana during the time of Kakaʻe, the aliʻi of West Maui. Some say that they were built under the rule of Kahekili.

Halekiʻi or ‘house of images’ is thought to be a chiefly compound with thatched hale (houses) built atop the stone platform of the heiau and guarded by the kiʻi (images) placed on the terraces around the sides of the platform.

Pihana was the major heiau of the Wailuku area, historical references suggest, and it is reported to be a luakini, where human sacrifices were offered.

The full name of Pihana is Pihanakalani or ‘gathering place of the aliʻi.’ Others have recorded the name of the heiau as Piʻihana. (Naone)

The two heiau are constructed of stacked waterworn basalt boulders collected from ʻIao Stream. The sides of the heiau were stepped or terraced and an ili-ili (waterworn basalt pebbles) paved platform existed on the top of the heiau.

Constructed upon the terrace and platform surfaces were a number of features, including depressions, pits, walls, and small enclosures. Kenneth Emory of Bishop Museum was in charge of the reconstruction of portions of Halekiʻi in 1959.

The heiau were important for the ritual ceremonies prior to the battles that eventually resulted in the uniting of Maui with the other Hawaiian Islands under Kamehameha I

The site is also important for its association with Kahekili, a major figure in Maui’s history who is connected with Halekiʻi-Pihana from circa 1765-1790, and with Kamehameha I during his conquering of Maui (1792.) (Lots of information here is from NPS and Naone.)

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October 2, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Mokumanu

“O Hina,
Hold back the night.
Let darkness rest upon the eyes of Peʻapeʻa
That I may save my wife.”

Demigod Maui is known for capturing the sun; here is another story of Maui.

Sometime after his effort to pull Kauaʻi closer to Oʻahu failed, Maui and his three brothers went fishing. Each brother caught a shark; Maui, with his famous hook Manaiakalani, caught a moi and a large ulua.

Maui-kupua told his brothers to paddle ashore and directed them to the best landing place. After they landed, he grabbed his gear and his two fish and returned home.

He began to eat the fish when he saw Kumulama, his wife, being carried away by the chief Peʻapeʻamakawalu (eight-eyed-bat; Peʻapeʻa.) Maui pursued, but Peʻapeʻa was too swift for him and disappeared into the sky beyond the sea.

Grieving, Maui went to his mother, Hina, who told him: “Go to the land of Keahumoa; there you’ll see a large hut. Your grandfather Kuolokele (Ku-honeycreeper) lives there; he’ll instruct you on how to recover your wife.” (hawaii-edu)

Maui saw a hump-backed man, his grandfather, coming toward Waipahu with a load of potato leaves, one pack of which, it is said, would cover the whole land of Keahumoa.

Maui picked up a stone and threw it at his grandfather, striking him on the back, whereupon Kuolokele’s back was straightened. Kuolokele picked up the stone Maui threw at him, and threw it to Waipahu, where it has remained to this day.

Maui explained what had happened; Kuolokele had Maui gather kī leaves, ʻieʻie vines and bird feathers.

On the first day, from the bird feathers, ki leaves and ʻieʻie vines, Kuolokele made the body and wings of a bird – moku-manu (bird-ship.) On the second day, he finished the bird and tested it. It flew the first flying-craft ever in Hawaiʻi.

On the third day, Maui appeared before Kuolokele. “It is ready,” the old man said. “Inside the bird you will find cords. With them you can flap its wings and make it fly. Also there is a bundle of food.

Kuolokele told Maui “Fly in this bird until you come to Moanaliha, the land of Peʻapeʻa. When you reach it, look for the village. If the village is deserted, then look toward the sea and you’ll see a great number of people gathered there, among whom will be Peʻapeʻa, along with your wife.”

“Fly near them, but not too close, just close enough to attract their notice; then fly far out to sea. On your return the people watching you will shout, ‘The bird! The strange bird!’”

“If you hear Peʻapeʻa say that you are his bird, all will be well. He will have you taken into his sleeping house, and you can save your wife.’

Maui entered the body of the bird and started to fly. He flew for two days and two nights.

Arriving at Moanaliha, he looked over the land and noticed that the houses, but no people; he saw a crowd at the seashore. He flew until he was right over the multitude and saw his wife, Kumulama.

He continued flying over the deep ocean; then Maui turned and flew toward land.

As he neared the shore, the people exclaimed, “Oh, an enormous bird! An enormous bird!” Peʻapeʻa said, “Perhaps it’s my bird; if it is, it’ll land on my sacred box.”

Maui heard this and landed on the sacred box. After this, the chief and the people arose and returned to their village.

Arriving at his house, the chief told his attendants to go and bring the bird into the sleeping house. The order was carried out and food was brought to the bird. Maui reached out from the opening of the mouth and took the food inside.

Night fell. Through the eyes of the bird Maui watched as people came in and stretched out on piles of mats. They pulled kapa covers over them and closed their eyes in sleep.

Knowing Peʻapeʻamakawalu had eight eyes, four in front and four behind, Maui waited for all eight to close before he made a move.

After a while, one of the eyes closed, then another and another. But one remained open. He continued waiting until almost daylight, when he prayed to Hina: “Hold back the night!” Hina held back the night.

Maui kept awake until the last eye closed. Then he emerged from the bird, went to where Peʻapeʻa was sleeping, killed him and cut off his head.

Maui took his wife and the head and entered the bird again. Then he broke a hole in the roof thatching and flew out.

The next day, the people found neither bird, nor woman, only the headless body of Peʻapeʻamakawalu.

Meanwhile, Maui was flying back to Oʻahu.

As soon as Maui alighted, his grandfather asked, “Where is your wife and your bundle?” “Here they are inside,” replied Maui.

“Then let your wife out first,” said Kuolokele, and Kumulama came out; then Maui brought out the head of Peʻapeʻamakawalu.
Then they ate the prepared feast.

They enjoyed some time together, Kuolokele excused Maui and Kumulama, and they returned home to Hina, who welcomed them back with joy. (Lots of information here from Cultural Surveys, hawaii-edu and Thrum.) The image shows Maui capturing the sun. (Herb Kane)

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